Digital Media and History Education from Students’ Perspective: The Case of Albania

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the extent to and the ways in which digital media is incorporated in the teaching and learning of history in a tech-driven technology world. It starts with a critical qualitative review of literature concerning the advantages and pitfalls of utilizing digital media in history education. Furthermore, it uses survey research to gather students’ perspectives on the integration of digital media in history classes in three Albanian universities. The scholarly findings reveal: first, educators utilize digital media only when it is deemed necessary; second, the number of students who use artificial intelligence for historical research is growing; third, students are predominantly historical content consumers rather than creators on the internet, and fourth, the development of digital skills among history students is imperative for critically, ethically and responsibly navigating the online environment. The study provides a dataset on the use of digital media in history education in three Albanian universities, which not only fills the gap in the existing research, but also sheds light on the challenges and the impact of utilizing digital media in history teaching and learning. The study’s results are significant for scholars and educational policymakers and practitioners in the field.